How many times have we done good things in our lives without needing a title or designation to do so? I'm sure the answer to this for most of us is 'pretty often'. We do things for many reasons but often because it feels like the right thing to do, we can help people, or it serves a purpose in our lives.
System leadership is no different and yet sometimes (I think largely because of the sense of responsibility and scale it conjures up), I hear leaders deny they're system leaders, often humbly saying something like 'Oh no, I wouldn't call myself that - I'm just being me!'.
But what if we stopped thinking of system leadership as a title or label (what we call ourselves) and more in terms of who we are. This is important if we are to stop underestimating our power, influence and impact on creating the system(s) within which we work and live and instead, embrace and build upon the things we are doing that are valuable and make a difference. I'll explain a little more.
I see two main types of system leaders. System leaders within the system and system leaders working across the system. Both have important contributions to make in terms of how 'the system' is built, shaped and experienced and I have a huge interest in activating the power and potential of both.
With the former (those leading within the system), building of the system happens naturally through virtue of the fact individuals are working and leading within it. Everything we do every day contributes. Titles may have more of a role to play here as they indicate what role an individual has and therefore the responsibilities in fulfilling that role. I see leaders in this context as system builders – they are building through doing.
However, with the latter (those leading across a system), it’s not as clear cut. Leading across a system is, in the main, unrelated to titles or job roles - it means a leader needs to consciously decide it's something they want/need to do and then must proactively go and do things to this end. I see leaders in this context as system shapers – they are shaping through influencing, connecting and sharing.
For example, all teachers within education contribute to building the education system through their role working within it. Every lesson delivered, every child, young person or adult interacted with, is a building block in the larger system of education. The system is led, built and serviced by those within it. But, when a teacher shares their experience and expertise beyond their own classroom and school, they are contributing across the education system and helping to shape the way others do things and therefore helping to shape the system. Take this a step further, if that teacher then goes on to join a cross-services group exploring youth outcomes in the local community and represents the education perspective at the meetings, they are working across an even wider system - that of the local area.
The point here is that there are different ways that system leadership emerges and although both are important, it’s this latter one, leaders working across a system(s), I’m interested in unpicking a little further because it’s less consistent (i.e. I see it happening less) and I believe at least part of the reason for this comes back to this issue of designation, labels or titles.
I’m going to start the unpicking with a bold statement. I believe all leaders can contribute to and work across systems – being a system shaper.
The reasons not all do, mostly fall into three main camps:
- A lack of interest (which is fair enough – no judgement here – sometimes just getting the day-to-day job done can be challenging enough!)
- A lack of knowledge (not knowing what is meant by system leadership and not finding much clarity in the research, publications and intelligence that is out there)
- A lack of confidence (not feeling ‘enough’ – i.e. knowledgeable enough, experienced enough, high-profile enough, senior enough, etc.)
I can’t do too much about those in the first group but for those in the second and third, I want to explore a way of looking at system leadership that might be helpful. It starts with simplifying it and as I said at the start, seeing it more as a way of being than a title or label that comes with expectations and a list of things you ‘must do’. Viewing it through this lens makes the whole thing feel more inclusive and I hope, helps to unlock so much more system leadership potential.
Here is my own simplified definition which helps to keep me anchored in what I believe system leadership to be at its heart:
System leaders are those who contribute to shaping, building and developing the system(s) within which they work or live for the better, by leading within and/or across it.
I am certain there will be people who disagree with this definition and dislike the simplification of a complex area but I’m a believer in breaking down barriers, one of which is very definitely how overly complex system leadership has become. The complexity has turned people away from engaging, particularly those who are already busy enough.
And so, with this simple definition in mind, we come to this two-pronged piece of leading within and leading across systems. As I said earlier, the leading within is more organic and happens as part of our roles in the system. The leading across is the bit that needs more exploration because the more this type of system leadership happens, the more connected and self-sufficient we will be as a system (and as a society).
The idea of leading across a system, much like the concept of system leadership as a whole, can sometimes sound more grand or complicated than it needs to be (this isn’t to say, however, that it’s easy to do – something I will come onto shortly).
I’ve often heard people say ‘I can’t do that as I might look as though I’m over-reaching beyond my role’ or ‘I’m just a (insert title) so how can my work or thinking be helpful to a room full of (insert other titles)’ or some variation of these. Being a system leader and leading across a system is not a lot to do with your title or seniority (although I do recognise that sometimes in more senior roles, capacity can be more readily created through effective delegation) and everything to do with your values, vision, beliefs, behaviours, competencies, skills and confidence – in other words who you are, not what you are.
This is important to recognise because who you are can be developed and grown, which means that your ability to lead across a system can be developed and grown too. This point is key because it puts system leadership through a lens of ‘how do we nurture and develop it’ rather than ‘who gives us the title, label and ultimately permission, to do this work’. I truly believe there is a huge amount of untapped or unrecognised system leadership potential waiting to be activated but the thing getting in the way is a belief that we can’t be system leaders until we’re designated as such or, that we can only be system leaders if we fulfil a particular position.
For example, a Chief Constable, police constable and police staff member can all potentially have knowledge, expertise and experience that would be helpful as part of a project exploring the future of policing in England and Wales, albeit from different perspectives. It just might be the case that one of them has more capacity to contribute or can find a way to make the capacity available. Their value in working across the system and contributing to a system level project isn’t determined by their job title, instead by the experience, knowledge, skills and attitudes they bring.
With all of that said, I do also believe that unlocking system leadership at senior levels (CEOs, Boards etc.) is an incredibly important enabler to unlocking system leadership throughout organisational levels and roles. This is because executive levels are in a unique position to set and shape the culture of those who work with and for them and through role modelling system leadership themselves, can activate the confidence in others to do the same. Having led several CEO professional learning communities focused on system leadership over the past few years, I know they have been very powerful in further activating system leaders across their organisations.
The point here isn’t to say that roles are irrelevant – more that they’re not the sole determinant of system leadership potential or effectiveness.
So, now we’ve addressed the notion that system leadership isn’t directly related to role or seniority, we’re onto the trickier business of how can I therefore be a system leader. And this is the more challenging part. Challenging not necessarily in terms of the business of leading across a system(s) but more in terms of how to do it in a way that maximises impact, ensures sustainability and momentum and brings people with you.
The reason these things are important is, if we take public services as an example, there is limited capacity, limited funding and limited resources currently (and I think it’s safe to assume this will be the case for some time yet) and we therefore can’t keep ‘reinventing the wheel’ or duplicating effort. System leadership, when done well, avoids duplication and siloed efforts and instead, brings people together through shared purpose, securing a sense of togetherness and potentially, over time, some economies of scale and shared learning.
For example, if the NHS, police and fire service, education and social care in a region are all finding recruitment and retention challenging, they might all set up separate steering groups focused on addressing the issue. This would mean several groups, made up of several people, exploring similar challenges. However, a system leadership approach to this would seek to bring everyone together focused on the common recruitment and retention challenges for the region and would potentially only require a couple of representatives from each service (thus reducing each services’ capacity commitment). But to do this well, careful planning would be needed aimed at considering who the group should be made up of, how to secure buy-in and continued momentum, accountability and responsibilities and several other factors.
This brings us full circle to this idea of considering what it means to be a system leader (and an effective one at that) rather than who or what tells me that I am one. This kind of a dialogue, focusing on the aspects that support people to be effective system leaders, is far more important and it focuses us on how we activate the potential in leaders at all levels to contribute to shaping a system (or systems) they wish to see.
If you have made it to the end of this blog, you will know it’s a longer piece than usual from me and even then, I could have written more but I’ll stop myself here and potentially look to expand more in future pieces. Instead, here are a few reflective questions that might be helpful, if you are considering how to activate or build system leadership in yourself and/or others….
Reflective questions
- What does system leadership mean to you? Why is it important?
- What opportunities have you spotted that would benefit from greater system leadership?
- What has held or is holding you back from being a system leader? How could you unblock some of the barriers?
- If you are a system leader, what has really helped or enabled you? How could you share this with others to help them to activate their system leadership?
- What goals or aims do you have for this year related to system leadership? How will you know you have met them?
If you are looking for a leadership specialist with in-depth experience of system leadership to work alongside you as you shape this for you and/or your organisation, please visit my website at: www.elevatingleadership.co.uk or get in touch at alice@elevatingleadership.co.uk
